The Replica Prop Forum

The Replica Prop Forum
Very cool site I am also a member of

Monday, February 15, 2010

Wiki Wandering lead me from

This article about numbers stations, to This Wiki article about them, to the Lincolnshire Poacher, Cherry Ripe, One Time Pads, The Buzzer, Shannon Security, Yosemite Sam and a whole bunch of other things. It's amazing what you find when you cannot sleep.

Mark

Friday, February 12, 2010

I forgot one of my dream cars



When I first saw one of these cars, I was in High School at Normandy Senior High in Normandy Missouri. Wayyyyy back in the 80's. One of my teacher had one he had meticulously restored. I spent many days peering at the car, looking in through the windows while waiting for the bus to pull up so I could get home. Recently a neighbor of mine down at the bottom of the street had one, also restored. The thing that stood out most to me when looking at it was the fact that it only had 3 studs holding on the wheels. I'd love to get one of these.

Mark

Monday, February 8, 2010

Following on the post below

I started to put together a list of the cars I'd love to own. A few of them I have owned, a few were owned by friends, neighbors or family.

First cars I personally owned.



a 1986 Saab, of course.



Buick Skyhawk. Mine was a blue 1978 with a 4 speed and a 151 in line 4 cylinder



I had a yellow 1972 Beetle. It's license plate ended in NEZ and my father called it the Yellow Nosed Flying Omelet. Nez is french for nose.

Now for what some family members had that I wished I had.



My aunt Fay and Uncle Russ had a green one of these type 3 VW's.



My cousin Rex had one of these VW Microbuses.

Now for what some friends and neighbors had that I would love to get.



A friends dad had a Morris Minor Mini. I loved to go for a ride with them on the weekends. The car was nimble and fun, but a bit tight in the back seat. what little there was of it.



Another friend of mine, his neighbor had one of these Ford Model A pickup truck. It wasn't in as good shape as this one, but it ran, and got used every weekend.



The same neighbor also had one of these. a 1940 Packard, which was his daily driver. It's paint and upholstery were faded but it ran good.



A girl I used to date many many years ago, had one of these. Hers was a 1974 VW Thing. It's roof leaked, it needed lots of work, but it ALWAYS started.


This last one is one I've only ridden in once when my parents took my brohters and I to the UK for Christmas vacation. I"ve wanted one ever since.


A London taxicab. I can do without the for hire signage. But the "boot" is what made me want one.

What are your dream cars? Let me know in the comment section.

Mark

Ok, Now Jay's post

here made me comment about one of my old cars. A red Saab 900 2 door hatchback with a beige and black interior. Not the Turbo and not the S model. The standard 900 with the standard 8 valve inline 4, 2.0 liter H engine.



It looked a lot like this one except it didn't have a sunroof, and it had stock wheels.

I loved that car. It got premium gas even though money was tight. With premium in the tank though it gave me 32 mpg on the highway versus 25 with regular unleaded. It also ran smoother with premium. It would easily bury the needle which topped out at 120, in 4th gear. It cornered as if it had been glued to the road. The BF Goodrich Touring T/A's were worth the cost in good ride, traction and control. I drove that car over 200 miles with no brakes because the front pads were gone, but the kids and I had to get home. It handled like a dream and with down shifting I saved my rotors. The mechanic asked me several times just how far I had driven and couldn't believe how good the rotors looked.

When the starter went out between paychecks it would pop start in less than 5 feet of rolling. With the rear seat folded down I slept in the back many times. Plus I once took my then 4 kids with3 of their friends to the local pool just by folding down that seat. I hauled 8' 2X4's without having to prop up the hatch, carried 10 80 lb bags of concrete mix without bottoming out the suspension. That car did everything I asked it to and more. However my wife was pregnant with twins, and it was either sell my Saab or my truck, and I used my truck to make money with. So with sad tears, I sold my Saab for 6 times what I paid for it. I had restored the faded and oxidized paint, cleaned up the upholstery, fixed all the little problems and made it a nice looking smooth running car.

The guy I sold it too, impressed with the 120 mph speedometer tried to see just how fast it would go. Well it could and did go fast. But when you run the engine over 8k rpms racing someone in a tricked out mustang, and you're only in 3rd gear bad things happen. My beloved Saab, who I actually named Henrietta, died. She didn't deserve to die that way, after all the good service she gave. But she is gone.

And I want another one just like. Same year, same color, same body style and same engine.

I've been offered 3 Saabs since Henrietta died. But they didn't have what she did. 5 speed manual, 2 doors, hatchback, 2.0 liter 8 valve H Engine, red paint and beige and black interior with stock rims. I don't want a Turbo, I don't want an S with the 16 valve engine I don't want a sunroof or a ground effects kit. I want a plain jane red 1986 Saab 900 2 door hatchback, so I can name her Henrietta.


Mark

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Purple Team?

Hill Buzz has something interesting to think about.

Link on over and take a read.


Mark

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Need some help....

As I posted below I recorded my two daughters Patriotic Concert last week. Well I'd like to help out the school a little more. One of the band directors and I were talking about putting fixed cameras in the catwalk and the control booth going to a good computer for recording the concerts audio and video. Does anyone know of a system which allows good recording capabilities for both audio and video, which also allows one touch recording? We were talking that we'd like it so you just press one button and all the cameras record and take audio from the existing mic's. Plus I've been using windows movie maker to do all of my editing, and while it works, it is very limited, is there any decent inexpensive software which will allow me to edit upto 4 cameras plus the take from 6 microphones into one track without me going nuts trying to get 100ths of a second to line up right like I do now?

Any suggestions? Idea?


Bueller? Bueller?

Mark